Of the many judgments from Genesis to Revelation, five are major. But it is in the first major judgment, the Calvary judgment, that we find the greatest message in the Word of God.

Subject of the first judgment: The believers in Christ and the judgment of their sins at the Cross

Time: 30 A.D.

Place: Calvary

Basis of judgment: Christ’s finished work

Results: The death of Christ and justification for all believers

The judgment at Calvary is the only judgment for sin that you as a child of God will ever face. You met the judgment of the believer when you took Christ into your heart as your Savior; and because you accepted Jesus, you were acquitted of your sins. The believers’ judgment took place at the Cross; there will never be another judgment for sin for the believer so long as that one stays out of sin: no sin judgment for all who are born again.

In the judgment of believers, justice will not be given. If it were, all would be lost for eternity, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No one else but Jesus can represent the believers at this judgment. When they came to Calvary, Jesus assumed the responsibility for their sins. His death lifted their death penalty for sin. Every attorney in the world pleading for years could not win one case for sin. Only Jesus can plead our case; only Jesus can set us free; only Jesus can give life.

He that believeth on him [Jesus] is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18). Those who believe on Christ are not condemned; but those who do not believe in Jesus have no hope of redemption from sin, for Christ is the only Redeemer. Hope is given only to those accepting Jesus who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed (I Peter 2:24). In this passage Peter is speaking of the everlasting atonement and its provision for every man, woman, boy and girl.

Jesus became our High Priest and atoned for our sins. Today is our Day of Atonement for all time and eternity. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Romans 1:16). The power of God unto salvation provides atonement to all who believe. This is a dispensation of grace, a time blessed, honored, justified by Heaven. Through the atoning blood of Jesus, we who are born again are the redeemed of God, just as free from sin as we will be in Heaven, and with just as much favor.

We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). It is not necessary to make journey after journey back to Calvary, for the pardon of sin through Jesus Christ is handed to you in His nail-riven hand. Just as unbelievers will go only once to the White Throne judgment, believers need go only once to Calvary. No guilt upon the born-new in Christ is recorded in Heaven, no sin blots their record. Why think no one can live free from sin? The just shall live by faith (verse 38).

The atonement of Jesus made acquittal for sin possible, the atoning power of Jesus. The verdict for everyone who has been to Calvary and received this judgment is freedom from eternal hell. At Calvary you were tried, found guilty but pardoned once and for all by Jesus when you received salvation. Jesus took your place, bore your sins; and now they are all gone. So long as you commit no new sin, you will remain free.

Sacrifices That Didn’t Please God

In the Old Testament days under the Law, people tried over and over to be free of sin but were brought to the knowledge that freedom from sin wasn’t within their own power.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect (Hebrews 10:1). Old Testament sacrifices and rituals did not keep people out of sin, did not perfect people in God’s love. The Bible plainly states that God was not pleased with those sacrifices. If God had found a pleasing sacrifice, He would not have offered His Son. All Earth and Heaven were searched, but no perfect sacrifice could be found except Christ. The Lamb of God was the only one whom God would accept to be a sin-bearer for you and me. Had the animal sacrifices been acceptable would they not have ceased to be offered? Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins (verse 2)? If man could have pleased God with the sacrifices he gave under the Law, would not the sacrifices have ceased?

You must be free from sin. When you come to Calvary, you may have to deal with the results of past sins, but the guilt is covered by the blood of Jesus; your conscience now becomes clear. The Bible plainly tells you that you are no longer held responsible for sin once you have been purged—that’s the power of the atonement. If, on the other hand, you fall back into sin, you lose that precious salvation.

This plan of redemption is Heaven’s perfect plan. When man tries to make redemption fit into his own imperfections, it never works. Jesus came to take care of those imperfections in us, so that we would no longer be weak, no longer give in to sin but that we would yield our bodies as instruments of righteousness unto God.

Every year in Old Testament days God remembered man’s sins on the Day of Atonement. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year (Hebrews 10:3). Under the Law, people stayed out of sin on the Day of Atonement—and maybe for a day or two afterward—but they all eventually went back into sin. All those days of atonement did not keep Israel true to God. The people didn’t have the power to keep out of sin. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins (verse 4). The Law did not justify people in the eyes of God: sin still existed. The sin nature had not been killed out and replaced by the nature of Christ. No sacrifice was accepted by God; no sacrifice pleased God from Adam until the Cross. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure…Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law. Then said he [Jesus], Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second (verses 6,8,9).

The Acceptable Sacrifice

The Lamb of God was the first and only sacrifice God would accept to bear the sins of you and me. The Cross made the plan of salvation complete. That one sacrifice of Jesus was worth more than all the thousands and thousands of sacrifices under the Law—one powerful, God-sent sacrifice.

When Lucifer and the angels in Heaven sinned, God drove them out. God will not justify sin; only the deceit of Lucifer would make anyone think otherwise. The Crucifixion of Christ demonstrates the length to which God went to provide an atonement for sin. The feasts, the holy days, the offerings in the temple and tabernacle were but shadows of the New Covenant to come.

In Moses’ day, people had an opportunity to look at the brass serpent on a pole and be healed. The serpent on the pole was a type of Christ on the cross. But today the actual Savior has come—Jesus Christ—and He offers salvation and healing directly to all.

A virgin was with child. That which was conceived within her was holy; holy blood from Heaven flowed in the veins of Christ. None of the Old Testament sacrifices contained holy blood. The blood of animals would not suffice, only the holy blood of Jesus. In this hour of salvation’s reality, we rely on Jesus and the atoning power of His blood.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). God loved the world so much that He gave Jesus.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Nothing is quite so wonderful as the atonement; it’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to man. Because of the atonement we are God’s redeemed today. We could not have been God’s redeemed had it not been for the spilled blood of Jesus.

Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me; In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law (Hebrews 10:5-8). Again we read that the Lord had no pleasure in sacrifices. To please God we must live holy each day, and only through the blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Ghost can we do that.

Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second (Hebrews 10:9). God taketh away the first, the Law, the sacrifices, the feasts, the holy days. The first was a shadow, a type of the second which was to come: Jesus. Jesus was established to take away our sins and to reconcile us back to God. He came to fulfill the Law, not destroy it.

Jesus Freed Us from the Law of Sin and Death

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty (II Corinthians 6:17,18). The Lord wanted a son: He made Adam. He wanted a daughter: He made Eve. God wanted sons and daughters then, and He wants sons and daughters today. Those who sin against God cannot be a son or a daughter. Your master is the one you serve. If you sin, you are a servant of sin. If you live according to God’s righteousness, you are His servant, holy.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1). Those walking after the Spirit have no condemnation. For anyone to teach that man cannot live free from sin is absurd. How could a person enter Heaven with sin in his heart? Only through Jesus can the sinner be freed, pardoned from all sin; only through Jesus is God justified in forgiving sin because the penalty was paid by Heaven, by divine blood.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). The life of Christ that flowed into us at Calvary freed us from the law of sin and death. We no longer live under the penalty of the Law, for Christ took our place of judgment; He substituted Himself for you and me. Why? I say again, He was the only sacrifice that Heaven would accept.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:4-10). If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, if you believe and accept Him as your Savior, He takes your place, forgives your sins and reconciles you unto God. Now you are as sinless as the first Adam and the first Eve before they disobeyed God.

Passed from Death into Life

The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). God declared this through His prophet Ezekiel, and the fact has never been changed. Sin is death. One sin in your heart means death when you come to the end of life, eternal death for your soul, eternal torment in hell. This eternal death was upon each one of us until we found Calvary.

Through the atonement of Christ, however, we have life, life, not death. Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10). Jesus is life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (John 5:24). You who are dead in sins and trespasses cannot enter God’s Heaven unless you turn from sin and accept Jesus into your heart—saved by grace. When you receive salvation, you no longer are a sinner; you have passed from death into life, eternal life. You’re a blood-washed child of God.

Where do you receive everlasting life? At the Cross. Everyone coming to Calvary, accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior is in turn accepted by God, delivered, pardoned of sins. No condemnation. That soul is free, and never again will God mention the sins that one committed before Calvary. It is as though those sins had never been. What a wonderful judgment!

Christ Is Our Life

Jesus, being made perfect…became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him (Hebrews 5:9). Notice, this verse says all them that obey him. Jesus is the author of eternal salvation for whosoever will come to Him. At the Cross you didn’t receive salvation or forgiveness temporarily but for all time and eternity. You, of course, must obey the Lord to keep your salvation.

That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7). In the ages to come…it will take eternity for God to show us His kindness, eternity to learn the benefits of what we have received through Jesus Christ—and we may never learn them all.

But when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory (Colossians 3:4). Christ is our life. You can’t have life in Jesus Christ with sin in your heart. Jesus provides you with perfect deliverance from all sin. He makes the way for you to be pure, clean, holy.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (I Corinthians 15:3). Child of God, because Jesus died for your sins, you are delivered from eternal death right here in this mortal body. You are not going to be delivered; you are delivered. You will have no more deliverance from sin when you reach Heaven than you have right now. You have been set free from death as long as you do not go back into willful sin. It’s wonderful to know that Christ is your atonement, your life, that He died for your sins!

Created New through Holiness

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (II Corinthians 5:21). We are made the righteousness of God; we are His righteousness, created new by the Lord through His holiness. Jesus took our place. The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). God put our sins upon Jesus; this could not have been done had not Jesus been the perfect sacrifice.

At all times we must live righteously. If you are living any other way and think you are going to Heaven, you have a deceived heart. One day you will wake up in eternity, condemned with no Calvary, no justification. It will be too late then. Calvary is out of reach after death. The Bible tells us that we will live eternally—either in Heaven or in hell.

We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement (Romans 5:11). By taking Jesus into our hearts, we have now received the atonement; it is ours. The atonement of Jesus gives life here and life hereafter, life for all who believe in the Lord and are really living for Him. If you’ve accepted His shed blood, confessed your sins, God looks on you as He looks on His Son Jesus. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, you are justified.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (John 17:3). To know God and Christ means to worship, to serve, to live in and through the Godhead.

In John 17:44, Jesus said to His Father: I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Christ’s finished work is the completion of the whole plan of God for the redemption of mankind. Types and shadows of Jesus and His redemption appear throughout the Old Testament; but in the New, Jesus Christ is living reality in our hearts. The Lord walks with us and in us as His eternal life flows through us. However, again I warn: This wonderful redemption can be lost. All of God’s promises are conditional.

Looking for the Blessed Hope

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14). Jesus is coming again after His obedient Spirit-filled children. But those who shun good works, those who live ungodly will face the judgment of the wicked dead where no mercy will be shown—no life, only death, death, death. Sin is death here on Earth and eternal death for those who die without Christ.

But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness (I Thessalonians 5:4,5). You cannot be children of light, of the day, with any sin in your heart. Light is righteousness. God calls sin darkness, night. The unholy are children of the night. You who have been born again are not of the night nor of darkness. You have been separated from the world to be accepted by God, purified through the precious blood of the Son of God; and you glory in the promise of His return.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him (I Thessalonians 4:14). No sin abides in those who are asleep in Jesus; they are already in Heaven where sin cannot enter. The Bible says that Jesus will bring our loved ones with Him when He comes. The bodies of our deceased loved ones we place in the graves, but not the souls. The souls are with Jesus.

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord (I Thessalonians 4:15-17). Those who are alive in Christ as well as the dead in Christ, the holy ones, the pure who are free from all sin, will be caught up with Jesus at His coming. Sin cannot live with the Lord; sin cannot, I say again, be in Heaven. Wherefore comfort one another with these words (verse 18). Living godly and righteously in this present world, free from sin, we are looking for the coming of the Lord.

The Bread of Life

Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat (John 6:31). Manna came down from Heaven; men ate angel food. God fed the Israelites bread to eat or they would not have survived the desert. Without Jesus Christ you will not survive the desert of this life. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world (verses 32,33). We have the true, satisfying Bread from Heaven, Jesus Christ.

Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst (John 6:34,35). Sin in your heart brings hunger and thirst. Only when you have Christ will your spirit be satisfied in the Lord.

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14). Jesus didn’t speak lightly when He said He was the water of life, for without Him is no life. Bypassing Jesus, you walk hand in hand with death, for the judgment of God rests upon your head because of your sins.

God despises sin—He loves the sinner but hates the sin. When the sinner refuses to let go of his sins, refuses to take Jesus into his heart, then God will do away with the sinner. All sin will be destroyed.

Jesus alone is the remedy for sin, offering you life. He said, I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture (John 10:9). Jesus came with grace and truth to fulfill the Law.

To him [Jesus] give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins (Acts 10:43). The sins of those who believe in Jesus will be remitted, giving them a clean record; it’s the only way they can enter Heaven. Saying that you did your best will not take you to Heaven, for it isn’t the best you can do but the best Calvary can do that will save your soul. Jesus alone is your atonement, the Lamb of God who gives remission for sin.

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). No salvation through anyone but Jesus.

The Unpardonable Sin

At Calvary the believer’s judgment takes place. Only those who commit the unpardonable sin cannot be saved. They have gone beyond the atonement and will never return. What is the unpardonable sin? Jesus tells us about it in Matthew 12:31,32, Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

In Mark 3:22-30 we read that the scribes accused Jesus of casting out devils by the prince of devils. By doing that, they were calling the Holy Ghost in Jesus a devil. Jesus called it blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Those who have blasphemed against the Holy Ghost are not interested in God or the things of God.

But those who have not committed the unforgivable sin against God still have a drawing to Calvary.

The Lamb of God That Taketh Away the Sins of the World

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Just one Lamb out of all the multitudes of lambs sacrificed was able to take away sin.

We read in Isaiah 53, the atonement chapter, He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3). Do you think Christ would have paid such a price were He not able to deliver you from all sin? He came to deliver you and to make it possible for you to stay delivered, so you could be a part of God’s Heaven, reconciled, joined again in the fellowship of God. You cannot go to God’s Heaven unless you are reconciled with Him—no one with sin can be reconciled to God. You must go through Jesus Christ to get rid of sin; there is no other way. You could try a million years and not work away your sins. The guilt would still be there, held against you.

Jesus took our judgment; He paid the penalty for our sin. He is the only one fit, willing and able to be our perfect Redeemer. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Sinner, you’re headed for judgment; you’ve bypassed Calvary. Jesus can save you from those sins; but to be saved you must accept Jesus, His blood. When you do, the verdict is the same for all: Pardoned. All is forgiven. You are free. Those sins are cast into a sea of forgetfulness to never be remembered again by God.

He Poured Out His Soul unto Death

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way (Isaiah 53:6). For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We were all sinners; all have gone astray; all are in need of a Savior. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10). His soul an offering for sin—our sin, yours and mine. After such a sacrifice, how could God justify sin? It will never be justified apart from Jesus Christ. He is the only one through whom justification can come to you.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). When Jesus poured out His soul unto death, He was numbered with the transgressors, bearing the sin of all who would accept His great sacrifice. Jesus, our atonement….

Death Could Not Hold Jesus

In John 10:17 Jesus tells us, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. Jesus did not lay down His life for Himself or for the Father but for a ransom to redeem mankind from sin. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father (verse 18). Jesus proved He had power to take up His life again when He rose from the tomb. Death couldn’t hold Him.

We are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24). Jesus is our atonement for all time and eternity. No sin is held against us when we accept His marvelous gift. I repeat, this doesn’t mean you can’t sin—man has free choice in the matter—but if you sin you separate yourself from God. Sin is deliberately going against the will and commandments of God. Sin is knowing the will and commandments of God and ignoring them. Sin is being indifferent to the things and desires of God. Adam and Eve committed willful sin, doing what God said thou shalt not do. They knew better, for they had the knowledge of God. When you have the knowledge of God and commit sin, there is no more sacrifice for you as long as you remain unrepentant.

A Just God

Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus (Romans 3:25,26). God is just, and He will continue to be just. After sin entered mankind at the fall of Adam and Eve, the only way God could remain just and allow us to enter Heaven was through the atonement. We don’t reach Heaven by our works but through Jesus Christ. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (verses 27,28). We don’t need the Law to be justified. Christian ministers preaching that we must have part of the Law to be justified are out of order, not seeing the perfect plan of grace. They have put many into bondage.

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5). For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). We have no grace in ourselves; we have no works which God will accept, but we are saved through Christ according to the mercy and grace of God. Those thinking to work their way into Heaven will be disappointed. They won’t get in.

Not Many Wise of the World Are Called

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (I Corinthians 1:26-30). Why are not many wise of this world called? Because they won’t accept the atonement, the simplicity of it. Their confidence is in man’s knowledge, not God’s. Many teachers in the Christian world, as well as the majority of graduating theological students, deny the fact that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary. They have no message of salvation, of redemption—nothing to offer people. Instead of glorying in the Lord, they glory in flesh. All that we are and all that we shall ever be in God is due to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. In Christ is wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

The Word: A Testimony for or against You

God accepted Jesus in our place. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation (II Corinthians 5:19). Jesus made it possible for us to be reconciled unto God. How could one be both reconciled unto God and contaminated with sin at the same time? Impossible. There is no sin in God; God cannot accept sin. The devil loves to deceive people about sin, but the Word holds the truth.

The Word is a testimony either for or against you; it is used in the judgment of the believers and also the judgment of the wicked dead. According to the Word, God will deal with all. When we came before Calvary, we had to face the Word. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among men. If you don’t accept the Word, you don’t accept the truth; and if you don’t accept the truth, you are not free from sin. Many are in bondage, headed for judgment because they will not accept the truth. God will judge them. But believers, I say again, have met their judgment—and been passed from death into eternal life—at the Cross of Calvary.

A Carnal Mind Means Death

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6). You cannot be spiritually minded unless you take on the mind of Jesus. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (verses 7,8). The carnal mind will not yield to the will of God. If you are walking in the flesh you are not pleasing God. You can only walk in the Spirit when you walk in the truth of God, in the redemption of God, in the shed blood of Jesus. Through the blood you are cleansed, and through the blood you are kept in Jesus. Without the blood of Jesus you have no keeping power. The blood of animals does not possess that keeping power, nor does it have power to justify. I repeat, God was not pleased with animal sacrifices. That’s the reason He sent Jesus.

New Creatures

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (John 3:1-7). Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new (II Corinthians 5:17). Those in Christ are made new; all the sin is gone. God does not repair hearts of flesh; He makes them new. If any man be in Christ he is not repaired; he is a new creature.

There are some who claim to be of God but are still bound by the world. They have not been made new. They act like the world, talk like it; they are a part of it. We who have been born again live in a brand-new world, a world where Jesus flows His life’s blood into us.

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (I Peter 1:18,19). You were redeemed from that old conversation, that old life, with the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus was without blemish, without spot; and He said we should have to be like Him—He made it possible for us to be like Him. It’s our atonement, our privilege, our strength, our power: being like Him. Jesus is coming after a people without spot, blemish or wrinkle.

Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps (I Peter 2:21). If we didn’t have power to follow His steps, the Bible would never have instructed us to do so.

Jesus who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever (I Peter 1:20-23). To purify your soul through the atonement you obey the truth. How can you obey the truth and the devil at the same time? How can you be obedient to the truth and obedient to that which is not true? Consistency, thou art a jewel! The Bible certainly is consistent. You purify your soul by obeying the Word through the Spirit.

Born again of incorruptible seed by the Word made flesh, by Jesus Christ, we have life through Him, through the Word which liveth and abideth forever. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the Word of God will abide forever. Hide away in the Word.

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32). God has forgiven us for the sake of Christ, not for our sakes. Father, I died for that one, Jesus is saying. I spilled my blood for that sinner. For my sake forgive that one. But “that one” must want Jesus, want to be accepted, to be found by God or salvation will be lost. Jesus is the door, the only door, the only way into Heaven; all who refuse to enter that door reject eternal salvation. Jesus is life. Without Jesus is no life at all but eternal living death in hell.

God Cannot Look on Sin

Although when you are saved you are pardoned from the judgment of sin, there is a sin judgment for everyone who dies without Jesus. The sin debt must be paid. If you don’t accept Jesus as your substitute, if you don’t accept the price He paid for you, if you don’t give yourself to Him, then you will have to pay with your soul at the White Throne judgment without Jesus to plead your case. He will not be there to stand between you and the wrath of God as you and millions like you pass before the judgment bar of God on that day: Guilty, guilty, guilty! Depart into everlasting torment!

But for the believers, our judgment, our trial is over; it was met by Christ for us at Calvary. We found the Mercy Seat when we found Jesus: He is our love.

Calvary was the worst day ever—and yet the greatest day—the worst day for God and the greatest for mankind. All the time Jesus was on Earth He was without sin; the Father’s face was turned toward Him saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. He’s mine, and He pleases me! But when our sins were laid upon the Master, God had to turn away; for God cannot look upon sin. At the moment Christ became our sin-bearer and our sins were laid upon Him, the cry from Calvary was heard: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me (Matthew 27:46)? That terrible cry almost tore out the heart of God—His Only Begotten Son dying for your sins and mine. Jesus was perfect in all His ways—and now this, dying for our sins. Not so much as a drink of water would they give Him.

How He suffered on that cross when the sins of humanity were laid upon Him! Then, as part of the punishment…forsaken by God because God cannot look upon sin. When Jesus became our substitute, He made it possible for God to look on us through His purity.

Such fear seized those who followed Jesus that they scattered in all directions. How God must feel when He hears someone say, “Why I’ve never done anything wrong.” Nothing wrong? Only trampling the blood of Jesus underfoot, the worst sin a person could commit. There is no such thing as a good sinner. The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4).

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost (John 19:30). Jesus bowed His head on the cross and died; the sin debt was paid in full for everyone on Earth. At the Cross, the whole plan of redemption was finished. It’s Whosoever-will, let him come to this redemption.

When Christ took our sins, He, no doubt, felt all the pain sinners will feel in eternity, all the pain we would have felt had He not come.

No suffering on Earth is comparable to what Jesus went through. Many do not realize what happened to Jesus when all the iniquity, all the sin of the human race was laid upon Him. He took it all; He bore our sicknesses as well as our sin. Because Jesus became the sacrifice for sin as well as sickness, with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Sinner, you will fall into the hands of an angry God if you neglect Calvary. Understand God’s plan for all mankind, wicked and righteous. Two classifications of people are on Earth today: the holy, the godly, the righteous and the unholy, ungodly and unrighteous. Right or left, the Holy Spirit is dividing today. The Lord told me it would be like this in the final hour. You are either on the right or the left. If there is one sin in your life, you are on the left hand of God, the judgment-without-mercy side.

Judgment from Heaven falls on the sinner; he is condemned by Heaven and all that Heaven stands for. The Bible will judge you, if you play with sin. If you have never found that forgiveness, pray this prayer with me: God, I have sinned against you. I am guilty, but I ask for mercy. I know you died for me, and I’m reaching out to you, dear Jesus, to your atonement. I accept it, and I believe that through your shed blood on Calvary I have forgiveness. I believe in the blood of Jesus, the blood of the Lamb of God that takes away all of my sins. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in!

Believe Him and you can rejoice: Hallelujah He has come! I have been pardoned. I am pardoned from all of my sins. I am free. Jesus is mine. Heaven is mine; God is my Father and I am His child.

It’s a wonderful judgment that sets people free, pardoned, nothing held against them. When the believer dies he is not headed for a judgment of condemnation but for Heaven—going home on the blood. It’s the blood of Jesus that opens the gates of Heaven, His blood applied to the doorpost of the heart.

The first judgment: The judgment for the believer

Basis: Christ’s finished work

Place: Calvary

Results: Justification for believers in the eyes of the Almighty for all eternity

Thus Saith the Lord

I see the redeemed. My eyes are upon the redeemed. The redeemed are to my right, and those without redemption are to the left. My anger is kindled; my judgments are nigh at hand. I am already sending judgments upon the earth in divers places, and I will send more judgments. My hand is moving in anger toward those that have defiled themselves in sin. My Son paid the price of deliverance, and they will not accept Him. My judgment will be given to them in gladness; in gladness I will give it. And I will measure it out with the fullest measure. There will be no pity. I will mock them, and I will laugh at their calamity.

Man does not really know his God, saith the Lord. Man has seen my hand of mercy and love and tender care. Man has not really seen the God of judgment. And I will rain it down. Just as I am raining my Holy Spirit upon the earth for a period of time, I will soon rain down my judgment upon planet Earth. I have warned humanity. Again and again I have foretold the things to come, and yet many who have known me know me no more. They have gone astray. Others are in a lukewarm condition. And the deceit of Lucifer is going forth to cover the whole earth. And yet with my great love I’m raining down mercy; I’m raining down deliverance; I’m raining down help for all before I rain judgment.

Draw nigh unto me, my people. You are in great conflict, and you’re in grave danger. Your only safety is in me, saith the Lord. Walk with me in every moment. Do not stray. The enemy will deceive you in this last hour and destroy you. Be holy in my presence, and my face will be toward you, and you will have my favor. And the blood of my Son will protect you, and my Word will shield you. Trust in the Lord thy God. Trust in the promises of the Lord thy God, and do my work and finish my work. Redemption draweth nigh, saith the Lord.